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Апсурдне приче [Apsurdne priče]
Zanima me samo besmislica, samo ono što bukvalno nema nikakvog smisla. Zanima me isključivo ružna strana života. Herojstvo, patos, neustrašivost, čojstvo, higijena,moral, patetika i hazard – mrski su mi i kao reči i kao osećanja. Ali potpuno razumem i uvažavam: zanos i ushićenje, nadahnuće i očaj, strast i uzdržanost, raspusnost i čednost, tugu i nesreću, radost i smeh.
- GenresShort Stories
157 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Daniil Kharms
238 books412 followersDaniil Ivanovich Yuvachev (Даниил Хармс) was born in St. Petersburg, into the family of Ivan Yuvachev, a well known member of the revolutionary group, The People's Will. By this time the elder Yuvachev had already been imprisoned for his involvement in subversive acts against the tsar Alexander III and had become a religious philosopher, acquaintance of Anton Chekhov during the latter's trip to Sakhalin.
Daniil invented the pseudonym Kharms while attending high school at the prestigious German "Peterschule". While at the Peterschule, he learned the rudiments of both English and German, and it may have been the English "harm" and "charm" that he incorporated into "Kharms". Throughout his career Kharms used variations on his name and the pseudonyms DanDan, Khorms, Charms, Shardam, and Kharms-Shardam, among others. It is rumored that he scribbled the name Kharms directly into his passport.
In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrotechnicum, from which he was expelled for "lack of activity in social activities". After his expulsion, he gave himself over entirely to literature. He joined the circle of Aleksandr Tufanov, a sound-poet, and follower of Velemir Khlebnikov's ideas of zaum (or trans-sense) poetry. He met the young poet Alexander Vvedensky at this time, and the two became close friends and inseparable collaborators.
In 1927, the Association of Writers of Children's Literature was formed, and Kharms was invited to be a member. From 1928 until 1941, Kharms continually produced children's works and had a great success.
In 1928, Daniil Kharms founded the avant-garde collective OBERIU, or Union of Real Art. He embraced the new movements of Russian Futurism laid out by his idols, Khlebnikov, Kazimir Malevich, and Igor Terentiev, among others. Their ideas served as a springboard. His aesthetic centered around a belief in the autonomy of art from real world rules and logic, and the intrinsic meaning to be found in objects and words outside of their practical function.
By the late 1920s, his antirational verse, nonlinear theatrical performances, and public displays of decadent and illogical behavior earned Kharms — who always dressed like an English dandy with a calabash pipe — the reputation of being a talented but highly eccentric “fool” or “crazy-man” in Leningrad cultural circles.
Even then, in the late 20s, despite rising criticism of the OBERIU performances and diatribes against the avant-garde in the press, Kharms nurtured a fantasy of uniting the progressive artists and writers of the time (Malevich, Filonov, Terentiev, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kaverin, Zamyatin) with leading Russian Formalist critics (Tynianov, Shklovsky, Eikhenbaum, Ginzburg, etc.,) and a younger generation of writers (all from the OBERIU crowd—Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Igor Bakhterev), to form a cohesive cultural movement of Left Art. Needless to say it didn't happen that way.
Kharms was arrested in 1931 together with Vvedensky, Tufanov and some other writers, and was in exile from his hometown (forced to live in the city of Kursk) for most of a year. He was arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers", and some of his works were used as an evidence. Soviet authorities, having become increasingly hostile toward the avant-garde in general, deemed Kharms’ writing for children anti-Soviet because of its absurd logic and its refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values.
He continued to write for children's magazines when he returned from exile, though his name would appear in the credits less often. His plans for more performances and plays were curtailed, the OBERIU disbanded, and Kharms receded into a very private writing life. He wrote for the desk drawer, for his wife, Marina Malich, and for a small group of friends, the “
Daniil invented the pseudonym Kharms while attending high school at the prestigious German "Peterschule". While at the Peterschule, he learned the rudiments of both English and German, and it may have been the English "harm" and "charm" that he incorporated into "Kharms". Throughout his career Kharms used variations on his name and the pseudonyms DanDan, Khorms, Charms, Shardam, and Kharms-Shardam, among others. It is rumored that he scribbled the name Kharms directly into his passport.
In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrotechnicum, from which he was expelled for "lack of activity in social activities". After his expulsion, he gave himself over entirely to literature. He joined the circle of Aleksandr Tufanov, a sound-poet, and follower of Velemir Khlebnikov's ideas of zaum (or trans-sense) poetry. He met the young poet Alexander Vvedensky at this time, and the two became close friends and inseparable collaborators.
In 1927, the Association of Writers of Children's Literature was formed, and Kharms was invited to be a member. From 1928 until 1941, Kharms continually produced children's works and had a great success.
In 1928, Daniil Kharms founded the avant-garde collective OBERIU, or Union of Real Art. He embraced the new movements of Russian Futurism laid out by his idols, Khlebnikov, Kazimir Malevich, and Igor Terentiev, among others. Their ideas served as a springboard. His aesthetic centered around a belief in the autonomy of art from real world rules and logic, and the intrinsic meaning to be found in objects and words outside of their practical function.
By the late 1920s, his antirational verse, nonlinear theatrical performances, and public displays of decadent and illogical behavior earned Kharms — who always dressed like an English dandy with a calabash pipe — the reputation of being a talented but highly eccentric “fool” or “crazy-man” in Leningrad cultural circles.
Even then, in the late 20s, despite rising criticism of the OBERIU performances and diatribes against the avant-garde in the press, Kharms nurtured a fantasy of uniting the progressive artists and writers of the time (Malevich, Filonov, Terentiev, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kaverin, Zamyatin) with leading Russian Formalist critics (Tynianov, Shklovsky, Eikhenbaum, Ginzburg, etc.,) and a younger generation of writers (all from the OBERIU crowd—Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Igor Bakhterev), to form a cohesive cultural movement of Left Art. Needless to say it didn't happen that way.
Kharms was arrested in 1931 together with Vvedensky, Tufanov and some other writers, and was in exile from his hometown (forced to live in the city of Kursk) for most of a year. He was arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers", and some of his works were used as an evidence. Soviet authorities, having become increasingly hostile toward the avant-garde in general, deemed Kharms’ writing for children anti-Soviet because of its absurd logic and its refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values.
He continued to write for children's magazines when he returned from exile, though his name would appear in the credits less often. His plans for more performances and plays were curtailed, the OBERIU disbanded, and Kharms receded into a very private writing life. He wrote for the desk drawer, for his wife, Marina Malich, and for a small group of friends, the “
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 13, 2019
If you liked Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano" and Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", you will love Daniil Kharms' absurdism. Short, simple, ethereal.
September 1, 2023
Čudnovate crtice (anekdote, kratke priče, dramske predstavice, bajke) raznolikog kvaliteta apsurda: od besmislenog i bezizlaznog ponavljanja do ozbiljnih upita prirode čoveka i sveta.
Knjiga se sastoji iz kolekcije ,,Slučajevi” i ,,Novi slučajevi”, kao i kratke autobiografske epizode od trostrukom rođenju Harmsa, nakon čega dolazi ,,Pseudo Harms”, književne anekdote o ruskim piscima koji su napisali drugi pod znakom Harmsovov pseudonima. Antologija je zaokružena kratkim dodatkom o životu i sudbini Harmsa i Harmsovih dela, pod naslovom ,,Kofer Danila Harmsa”.
Harms bi mogao biti književno dete Borhesa i Kafke (mada je Borhes pisao posle njega, a Kafka pre), zgužvan i sabit, satiričnig oka koje izdvaja detalje ruske i opšte društvenosti, predstavljući ih nam satirično, tragično, ali vragolaškim smejuljkom.
Knjiga se sastoji iz kolekcije ,,Slučajevi” i ,,Novi slučajevi”, kao i kratke autobiografske epizode od trostrukom rođenju Harmsa, nakon čega dolazi ,,Pseudo Harms”, književne anekdote o ruskim piscima koji su napisali drugi pod znakom Harmsovov pseudonima. Antologija je zaokružena kratkim dodatkom o životu i sudbini Harmsa i Harmsovih dela, pod naslovom ,,Kofer Danila Harmsa”.
Harms bi mogao biti književno dete Borhesa i Kafke (mada je Borhes pisao posle njega, a Kafka pre), zgužvan i sabit, satiričnig oka koje izdvaja detalje ruske i opšte društvenosti, predstavljući ih nam satirično, tragično, ali vragolaškim smejuljkom.
December 30, 2018
Even though I only gave this book 3.7/5 stars, I have to admit I was mostly fascinated and entertained throughout. Some of the incidents, cases, stories, however you call them, made me chuckle and reminded me of Monty Python. I would, personally, like to see these stories put to motion, life, I think I'd like them even more than now. But one thing is certain, I do want to read more by Daniil Kharms, if not right away, at least some time soon. Same goes for the "anecdotes" section which was actually written by different people, but importantly, inspired by Kharms. I even liked those. Now I want to get my hands on "Today I Wrote Nothing".
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews